The cruise that took me around the Croatian islands was out of the ordinary. It was an invitation to the 60th birthday of a friend I met on one of my many previous cruises, and met again on others as well. He decided to gather around him, for this significant event, about forty friends and organize a private cruise aboard one of the many boats that crisscross the Mediterranean in Croatian waters. The boat is called the Kapetan Bota and will leave from Split, for a week of island hopping.
The cabin is simple and clean, equipped with all the amenities. There is even very efficient air conditioning, which is welcome at this time of year, at the end of July. It is located on the main deck and opens onto a passageway, with 2 portholes, as well as a glass door, obscured by a curtain. Other cabins are on the lower level. Room service takes place in the morning, every day. Towels will be changed only once, in the middle of the week.
This is a half-board option, including breakfast and dinner (with one exception, one day when the boat was still sailing at lunchtime). Meals are organized for tables of 6 to 8 people. Breakfast is a self-service buffet. Dinner menus are pre-defined and different every day. Drinks are extra. Beers, some wines, and some spirits are offered at the bar and their purchase is added to a bill attached to the cabin, which will be paid at the end of the week.
Other meals are improvised depending on the ports, sometimes to discover some local specialties.
The boat travels mainly in the morning, after spending the night in a port. Departure around 7AM and arrival generally before noon in the next port, where it will remain moored until the next morning. An exception, one day, where the boat visited 2 ports in the same day. The ports visited:
- Split
- Korčula
- Dubrovnik
- Mljet
- Hvar
- Bol
- Makarska
- Pučišća
- Split
The largest port was Dubrovnik. All the others, except the departure and arrival port (Split) were relatively small. What a pleasure to disembark in the middle of picturesque and beautiful villages, far from the monsters of the seas, and the thousands of passengers, who all disembark at the same time in the morning, and disappear in the late afternoon. Staying in the ports all night is also a way to enjoy long summer evenings before returning to the boat.
The weather was fine almost all the time. Only one rainy episode, rather short. The heat could however be overwhelming, even until late in the evening and night.
In most of the ports visited, boats equivalent to ours often pile up next to each other, leaving all the passengers to go out or come back. The number of these boats is impressive. Dozens of them cross between the many islands.
The entertainment on board was organized by our host, and he knew how to create a great atmosphere. Visits to the ports were free, and were done according to affinity groups. Several times during the week, the boat moored in a cove and passengers were able to swim all around. An excellent opportunity to use your fins and snorkel. The aquatic fauna is however very poor even if it is not totally absent. We can guess the effect of the number of tourists (and these boats) on the local waters. The water is clear, it does not appear very polluted to the naked eye. The swims were invigorating.
The cruise cost us around €1200 per person, and the 2 of us paid a little over €200 for drinks (a few beers, a few bottles of wine shared during meals). All the passengers were so delighted with their week that everyone put pressure on our host to reorganize such a cruise… finally, it will be Croatia again, with a different itinerary, in May 2025!
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